Maybe He's Born With It
by Hikaru Morinaga
Summary: Duo comes home one day from work to Heero experimenting in the bathroom with products Duo never in a million years thought he'd see Heero use. There is a bright side to this however: at least they'll look pretty together. Written for Yesacia on tumblr. Heero-Duo friendship that may turn romantic later.
1. Experiments with Guyliner

**Maybe He's Born With It**

 **Author's Notes:** Inspired by a conversation with Yesacia on tumblr about Heero wearing guyliner. This is the result.

* * *

Duo pushes the front door of their apartment open, not caring as it hits the wall adjacent before closing on its own. He drops his wallet and keys on the nearby end table left there for that sole purpose and goes through the pile of mail left on it.  
 _Bill, bill, bill..._ He places them back on the table - Heero's the one who handles the bills in the house ever since Duo forgot to pay the electric bill once back when they'd first moved in, and Heero never let him live that fact down.

"I'm home!" Duo says with glee as he makes a bee line for the kitchen, where he sets up the coffee maker.  
"'Ro? You home?"  
Duo pokes his head out into the hall as the coffee maker does its thing. The door to the computer room is open, so Heero's not working on anything.  
 _It's weird for the apartment to be this quiet._ He enters the hallway and notices the bathroom light is on, where under the noise of the coffee maker percolating, there is the sound of - _Is that Japanese_? - Heero most likely cursing since Duo doesn't know enough Japanese to be able to tell.  
 _Maybe he's cut himself shaving again_.

"You okay in there?" He walks down the hallway, his boots heavy on the laminate wood flooring. _Do I need to call emergency services?  
_ He arrives to a fully lit bathroom where one Heero Yuy is standing in front of the sink shirtless and with a look of concentration.  
"'Ro... What're you doin'?" Duo stares at his roommate from the doorway before leaning his shoulder against the rough edge of the door frame.  
 _"_ You need help shavin'? Everythin' okay?" He doesn't see a razor anywhere, so he doubts Heero needs help with that.  
 _There's no blood, so I don't think he's dyin'._  
Heero's eyes don't stray from the mirror. Duo crosses his arms over his chest and waits for Heero to either realise that he's there or finish what he's doing. Heero's not a huge talker when he's in the middle of doing things. While he waits, his eyes trace over the tattoos on Heero's left arm, over the lines of muscle.  
 _He's never this preoccupied with his face. Hell, most of the time he don't even bother with a mirror and that's how he fucks up shaving.  
_

So why the hell is Heero concentrating on his face so much? Duo will never admit it out loud, but he doesn't see a reason for the scrutiny since it's not like Heero is bad looking - in fact, Heero's really, really good looking. The only imperfections are day old stubble and a scar on his forehead from him self-destructing Wing a few years back; the scar's hidden under his fringe, however, not under his eye, and hell, some people found stubble and scars sexy.  
 _Okay dude, talk to me, you're creepin' me the fuck out_.  
Heero pauses and leans in closer to the mirror before rubbing under his eye with his finger. He still hasn't answered Duo, and Duo can see Heero's hand holding something that looked like...a pencil?

"Uhh, Heero?"  
Still nothing. Duo can probably hear a pin drop. A few more moments go by, with Duo standing there staring at his roommate and wondering when the hell Heero turned into Narcissus, and still nothing. Duo hates long silences.  
"You know that mission we have coming up?" Heero asks, and Duo jumps. He puts the pencil - that is definitely a pencil - down before scrolling through his smartphone. Duo cocks an eyebrow and comes closer.  
"Yeah," Duo says, his eyes falling onto the pencil, though now that he sees it closeup, it looks more like a thick crayon than anything else. The box nearby by the faucet proclaims it to be 'eye pencil' in the shade 'Detective Noir'.  
"Is this eyeliner?" Duo picks it up, rolls it between his fingers. It feels smoother and thicker than a normal pencil, the lettering on it raised a little to give some tactile feeling. He touches the tip and it has the consistency of a wax crayon.

Heero makes a noise that could be confirmation. "We have to go undercover as two young women, so I told Relena and she sent me all of this."  
Duo looks at the label, which glitters in the light from the overhead bathroom light, holding it a couple of inches away from his face.  
"'Maybelline Guyliner Xtrém Suprém'?" Duo looks from the pencil to the box of 'goodies' on the vanity of the sink. "Is there just a plain ol' guyliner?"  
"I don't know," Heero says, "I didn't pick any of it." He puts his phone down before taking the eye pencil from Duo. "It was all bought by Relena. She recommends that I test this stuff out before the 'big day'."

Duo moves to Heero's other side so he can get a closer look at what he's doing. Duo looks down and on the phone screen is a WikiHow page on "How to Apply Eyeliner (For Guys!)".  
"What I wanna know is how the hell you don't stab yourself in the eye with that." Duo gestures to the pencil before sitting down on the lid of the toilet. He crosses one leg over the other, and watches Heero work on the other eye. "Or how the hell you have the patience to do that in the first place." He crosses his arms.  
"Or did you spend the entire time I was gone practisin'?"  
"I pay attention to what I'm doing," Heero answers. "It's not that difficult."  
Duo notices the wadded up tissues on the sink top streaked with black. "'Not that difficult' huh? What's with the tissues then if it's just a line?" Duo mutters. The look Heero casts in his direction lets Duo know he heard him.  
"Would you like to try it then?" Heero offers him the eye pencil, eyes narrowed just a little more than they were before, and Duo can't help but notice his eyes are more intense than usual. Duo hesitates a little as he stares at the pencil.  
"Well?"  
Duo raises his hands a little and stands up, taking the pencil and Heero's place in front of the mirror. Heero stands behind him, and Duo can feel his body heat in the cramped space that is their bathroom.

"How does this work?" Duo hovers the pencil over his eye.  
"I thought this wasn't that difficult since it's just drawing a line?"  
Duo winces a little at that. "Sorry, okay? Tell me how this works."  
"Just draw a line that follows your lash line," Heero instructs. "Start with the lower one first." He traces a line right where the liner would go, causing Duo's skin to tingle a little. "Then you do the same with the top."  
"And if I fuck this up?"  
"Then we wipe it off and start over," Heero answers. "But since your aim with a gun is spot on, I'm sure you can handle drawing a line under your eye."  
"So then what's with the-"  
"I'm a perfectionist."  
 _Fair enough_.

Duo squints at his reflection in the mirror before taking a deep breath and, leaning in towards the mirror, starts drawing a line on his lower lash line, oh so carefully moving it across, constantly aware of Heero being behind him. Unlike Heero's slow and steady hand, Duo's hand is shaking a little too much for his liking, causing the line to look just a tad too wobbly. Heero laughs a little, which bothers Duo enough to cause him to send the eye pencil careening into the corner of his eye.  
"Ow!" He puts the pencil down and rubs under his eye, smudging everything, which just makes it look like he has a fading black eye. "The hell is so funny?"  
"You're one of Preventers' best marksmen, but you can't even draw a straight line?"  
Duo glares at him. "There is a difference, 'Ro, between shooting someone between the eyes in an open field and tryin' to draw a straight line with someone breathin' down your neck." He examines his eye in the mirror and finds a tiny black dot right where he poked himself.  
"Ah, blame me for your mistake."  
 _If you weren't practically up my ass watchin' my every move, my hand wouldn't've shook, you bastard_.

Heero shakes his head and picks up the pencil. "Here, let me do it then."  
Duo gives Heero's reflection a look.  
"What?"  
"I better not lose an eye 'cause of you."  
"Trust me?" Heero asks as he wipes the smudge off Duo's face.  
Duo turns his head and looks into Heero's eyes, one eyebrow raised but his expression is much softer now than it was before  
Duo nods.  
"Then you don't have to worry about losing an eye."  
Duo focuses on the mirror in front of them as Heero, still behind him, starts to very carefully line Duo's eyes.

"You've never done this before today?" Duo asks as his eyes water just a little from the makeup right on his water line.  
"No."  
"You're pretty good at this for it bein', y'know, your first day doin' this."  
"Remember how I used to bodyguard for Relena for a while after the Uprising? Do you know how many times I've watched Relena apply and reapply things like eyeliner and lipstick?"  
Duo hums in thought. "So you learned by watchin'."  
"Pretty much."  
Duo taps the screen of Heero's phone. "So what's with the WikiHow page?"  
"Just in case." He pulls away and turns Duo around to look at him closer, nodding in approval at his handiwork. "You look quite handsome right now."  
Duo looks in the mirror and tries to not look so flushed in the mirror.  
"You didn't have to be so nervous."  
"Sorry I don't like the thought of someone stickin' somethin' pointy near my eye." He turns his head this way and that, looking at his 'new look' from different angles. "I look like one of those pop-punk band frontmen."  
"From the research I've done, that look is considered 'trendy'." Heero grabs the eyeliner box and slips the pencil back inside. "People might even say you're sexy."  
Duo grins. "I'm already pretty sexy, but thanks." Duo sits on the sink vanity and points to the box. "What else did 'Lena send us?"

Heero rummages through the box and pulls out some brushes, an eyeshadow palette, assorted blushes, and lip stains and liners, all the while Duo's eyes widen with each new thing handed off to him.  
"The fuck is all this shit?"  
"More cosmetics," Heero says. "Haven't you ever seen them before?"  
 _Of course I have._ "I don't live under a rock, Heero." Duo picks up the eyeshadow palette. "...You owe me so fucking big, Heero. I wouldn't do this for just anyone."  
"Actually it's Zechs who owes you huge," Heero says, as he pulls out a sheet of paper from the bottom of the box. "If it wasn't for 'unforeseen circumstances', you wouldn't be my partner for this mission."  
Duo frowns. "Great. So." He holds up the palette. "What is this and where's this shit go on my face?"  
Heero consults the list Relena was kind enough to include. "It's called a 'Naked2 palette'."  
"Okay," Duo says. He taps the lid of the case. "That tells me absolutely nothin'."  
"Eye shadow." Heero flips the palette over in Duo's hands and points to the word on top of the lid. "'Twenty classic daytime to evening wear shades to die for.' I think it goes on your eyelids if the pictures are any indication."

Duo groans. "At this rate we're gonna need to apply something to hide all the marks from me gettin' stabbed in the face tryin' to apply all this shit."  
"Relena also gave us a list of other things she's sending for us to help us with this mission."  
Duo stares at him.  
"She's going to take us shopping."  
"I think I'd rather stab myself in the eye with that pencil." Duo opens the palette to find a tiny brush inside. "This is like a paint palette."  
"For your face, yeah."  
Duo's frown deepens as he watches Heero go over the list. "I really don't wanna do this," Duo whined. "Kat would make a better lookin' girl than I would, why couldn't Une get him?"  
"Because he's on a mission with Trowa on L3."  
"How fuckin' convenient," Duo mutters. "All this trouble for one fuckin' mission."  
"Well, we don't _have_ to do this," Heero says as he takes the palette from Duo. "But if we want to be convincing, then we have to look the part."  
Duo swings his legs as he groans. "Can't one of us _not_ dress up like a girl?"  
"No." Heero removes the packaging from the blushes. "The report Une sent me says that it's one of those 'no boys allowed' things."  
Duo gives him a look of disbelief. "Seriously?"  
"Yeah, and since we're the Top Agents of the Month for our fieldwork, plus the fact that Sally is on vacation, Wufei and Mariemaia are on their honeymoon, Zechs and Noin are...absent due to 'unforeseen circumstances', who the hell else is there?"

 _Well_ , _I guess I can't argue with that._  
"So we're goin' down together," Duo says.  
Heero nods.  
"Okay."  
"Look at it this way: at least we'll look pretty together."

Duo and Heero look at each other for a little bit until Duo can't keep a straight face anymore.


	2. Filling Out Dress Bodices

**Maybe He's Born With It**

Chapter Two

 **Author's Note:** Well I don't know why I said it was a one shot when I immediately got ideas for a second chapter for this as soon as I finished the first. Apparently I wasn't the only one who wanted this continued. I have no idea how many chapters this will have, probably at least five.

I had way too much fun writing this chapter.

* * *

Duo stares at the clothes that are currently on top of Heero's duvet, fingers pulling at what hair he has left of what he used to call his goatee as he watches Heero sort through the pile, classifying things by length and colour.

"I thought I told you to shave that thing off weeks ago," Heero says after observing several reddish hairs fall onto one of the darker coloured dresses. He brushes it off and onto the floor.

"Why? There's nothin' wrong with my goatee."

"You _do_ realise most women don't have goatees… Right?"

Duo sits on the bed, the skirt of one of the dresses under him.

"I'm sure there are some women who wear goatees or beards or some shit, 'Ro. Don't body shame."

Heero stops mid-shifting a dress to a different pile to give him a look and say, "I'm not body shaming." He drops the dress on top of the nearest pile. "I said 'most' women."

"So then why can't I sport a fashionable as hell goatee?"

"Because," Heero says, as he tries to figure out what pile to put an ombre patterned dress on. "We're supposed to be Dirtside aristocratic women heading off to a ball. From what Relena's told me and what I've seen online, even the women who sport beards and such shave or wax it off before a big social event."

"Ain't as progressive as the Colonies then." Duo lays on the bed, stretching out his legs as he rests his head on his arms. "Up here they don't give one single fuck."

"You knew that." Heero tugs on a dress, the skirt of which is under his roommate's backside. "Do you mind getting off the bed so you're not in my way?"

Duo sits up and shifts so Heero can remove the glittery skirt out from under him. Duo wrinkles his nose at the huge swathes of glitter now on the back part of his black jeans.

"Did Relena get us _anything_ without sparkles?"

"I don't know," Heero confesses. "I haven't seen all of what she brought."

"'Brought'?" Duo asks. Heero's phone goes off and he thumbs off a response before he leaves the room, returning a few moments later with a large, overstuffed brown paper shopping bag, Relena not too far behind with one even larger. Duo groans.

"Oh hush," Relena says. "It's not that bad. It's for one night."

"Yeah, so meanwhile I get to endure this special type of hell for a few months before we get to that 'one night'." Duo folds his arms over his chest as Heero unloads the new bags and Relena excuses herself for "the last of the load."

"She brought this stuff? From where?"

Heero shrugs as he sorts the new additions onto existing piles. "I assume these are all from her personal collection of clothing."

"Relena _owns_ all'a this?" He sweeps his arms over all the bags and dresses.

"She has to have a dress for every event, occasion, function, and then some," Heero responds.

"I guess so," Duo grumbles.

Heero holds up a black dress with nary a hint of shimmer on it.

"Look, no sparkles."

"That's 'cause it's all over your clothes," Duo says, pointing out the flecks of sparkle all over Heero's t-shirt and jeans. "The problem with _this_ dress is it's fuckin' poofy as dicks though." Duo takes hold of the skirt to examine it. It feels silky with some kind of lacy material over the bodice. Duo's not a fashion expert, he's got no idea what any of these materials are technically called, or what makes the skirt poof out so much that it looks like a longer version of a ballet tutu. The plunging neckline of the latest sorted dress brings to mind one question Duo has yet to ask, and if he's honest with himself, doesn't want to ask.

"Hey, 'Ro?" Duo raises his voice a little so he's heard over Relena rustling plastic bags full of shoes.

"Yeah?"

"How are we fillin' the tops of these things out?" He tugs at the plunging neckline dress. "We kinda lack in that department."

Heero drops the dress he's holding onto the bed, his eyes staring at the bodice of it.

 _I didn't plan for that._ He's not sure why it slipped his mind, considering he and Duo are biologically male and therefore lack certain anatomical features. Heero isn't sure telling others they are just "really flat-chested young ladies" would go over well.

"We could say we're female body builders comin' to a fancy-shmancy party," Duo suggests, a glimmer of hope in his eyes.

"The descriptions of the women Une wants are the complete opposite of that."

"We didn't hit puberty yet."

Heero cocks his head to the side. "We look too mature for them to buy that."

"Is there _any way_ –"

"Not really."

So much for that glimmer of hope.

"So then what's the plan?" Duo asks. "We stuffin' with TP or balloons or some shit?"

Relena dumps the last of the bags on the floor, panting a little from having to climb up and down all those stairs so many times.

"What are we stuffing with toilet paper or balloons?"

Duo is quiet for a little bit. _What's a polite way of sayin' this?_

"Well unlike you we don't have–"

Heero silences him with a look. _Let me talk_.

"Do you have…" Heero makes gestures with his hands over his chest. "Fake…" He feels his face heat up. "…bra fillers?"

 _Smooth, Yuy. Smooth._

Duo shoots him a look. "Bras?! We gotta wear bras?!" It never occurred to him they might have to wear bras. He looks from Heero to Relena. "Look, I didn't sign up for none of this."

"What exactly _did_ you sign up for?" Heero asks.

"You know…" Duo rubs his cheek. "I don't even know anymore."

"You agreed to do this mission that involves crossdressing as a noblewoman for the evening. What exactly did you think this involved? Throwing on a dress and calling it a day?"

Duo pulls at a loose thread on Heero's duvet. "Little bit, yeah. Look, I've never done this before, how was I supposed to know it was gonna be this hard and involved?!"

While Duo and Heero debate how easy or not easy it is to go from one gender presentation to another, Relena digs into one of the smaller bags and pulls out what look like fake breasts made out of silicone.

"Will these work?"

Heero turns around and notices what Relena is holding in her hands. _Are those…_

Duo's never seen Heero's face so red, and Duo's never felt his face this on fire before.

"What are those?" Heero's the brave soul who asks for confirmation.

Relena gives them a look of disbelief. "They're fake breasts."

 _The Vice Foreign fuckin' Minister is holding fake tits._

"You mean you've never seen…?"

"We kinda had others things goin' on at the time most boys are explorin' that shit," Duo remarks. Heero nods in agreement.

"Fair point," Relena says, her voice quiet. "The good news is I have two sets. One for you…" She gives the ones already in her hands to Heero. "And one for you." These ones are still in the original packaging.

Heero just stands there by the bed, awkwardly palming his first set of breasts ever. Duo would have laughed if this was a scene from a comedy film or show. As it stands, this isn't a scene from a comedy. It's a scene from his own life that is, indeed, happening for real. He covers his eyes with his hand and lets out a weak as hell laugh. _Fuck my fuckin' life._

oXo

A few hours later, Relena is standing in front of Duo, adding the finishing touches to the silicone prosthetics the box names Falsies Express, making sure they're even on his chest before pulling away.

"Go ahead and take a look."

Duo refuses to look in the mirror, turning away entirely.

"I promise you, you don't look bad."

"Oh no?" Duo asks, folding his arms over his now much fuller chest. They squish under the pressure and Duo shivers at the foreign feeling. "They gotta be bad if he ain't lookin'."

"You look fine," Heero says.

"Speak for yourself, asshole." He faces Heero, pointing at him accusingly. "You're wearin' a towel over yourself! At least suffer with me!"

Heero pulls the towel tighter. "It's to preserve…modesty in front of the Vice Foreign Minister."

Duo snorts. "Yeah. Right. Since when did you ever give a fuck about that when those shorts left nothin' to the imagination after I helped her fish your ass outta the water when you fired off those torpedoes, huh?"

"You don't care when you're supposed to be dead," Heero retorts.

"Plus when the hell have you ever cared about modesty when you walk through our apartment na–"

"Will you look in the mirror and shut up, Duo?"

Duo holds up his hands. "Fine. Fine. I'll do it. I'll humour you both. I ain't happy about it, but I'll do it." He turns around and looks directly into the mirror.

"Holy shit." His own wide-eyed reflection stares back at him.

"I told you so," Relena mutters as she pinches the bridge of her nose.

Duo turns this way and that, viewing his new chest from every angle he can. He bounces a little and laughs when they obey the laws of physics.

"I dunno what I was worried about," Duo says. "I'm still fuckin' sexy."

"I told you that earlier as Relena put them on," Heero remarks. "And you told me to 'shut yer feckin' gob, Yuy'."

Duo narrows his eyes. "Look not everyone can pull off the crossdressing thing. How the hell was I supposed to know?" He crosses his arms. "'kay. Let's see you, 'Ro."

Heero doesn't move an inch.

"Heero, if I gotta rip that towel away from you, I will."

Heero smirks. "I might enjoy it."

"You fuckin' traipse 'round our apartment naked all the time, but gettin' your towel off is like tryin' to get through the Presidential Mansion's shelter shield."

"Not indestructible."

"Don't make me twin buster rifle your towel off."

Heero throws his towel down. "There, happy? It's off."

Duo stares, his mouth wide open. "Holy fuck." Clearly Heero has the body to pull off anything. A few strategic pieces of clothing and the transformation would be complete easily. Different clothes and Heero could be completely androgynous.

 _What did I tell you? Some people pull this shit off better than others and you are prime example numero uno._

"I'm up here," Heero says, pointing to his face, a hint of amusement in his eyes and in the slightest of smiles. Duo averts his eyes elsewhere and clears his throat.

"What are we doin' about…the other problem?"

Relena blinks. "What other problem?"

Duo mock-cries.

"Don't wear something really tight," Heero answers. He gestures to the dress Duo nitpicked earlier as "too poofy." "Wear that."

"You do not want me to wear that ugly thing."

Heero picks the dress up and throws it to him. Duo misses the catch on purpose. "I'll pay you a hundred creds to wear that."

Duo looks at the dress at his feet. "Buy me my favourite dinner and I will."

"Taking you to the pizza place down the street isn't money well spent. Be serious."

Duo chews his lip. _What's a good thing I can have Heero do_ _for me so I can_ _get back at him for this shit?_

Slowly a grin forms on his face, a dark look in his eyes.

"You're going to blackmail me, aren't you?"

Duo nods.

"I thought so."

For effect, Duo cackles. Heero winces.

"What do I have to do to get you to wear that?"

Duo picks the dress up. "For you?" _Take me out on a date when this is done._

Heero quirks an eyebrow. "That dress is not worth me taking you out on a date."

Duo swallows hard. _Shit. I didn't know I said that out loud!_

Duo gestures to the huge pile of dresses. "Okay then, asshole, pick a dress that, in exchange for me wearin' it, you have to take me out on a date when this mission is over."

Heero walks over to the pile on the bed and rummages through it, examining different dresses, shaking his head at some, throwing others to the other side with a look of disapproval, until…

"This one." It's a dark blue dress covered in some kind of light, very flowy material Heero doesn't know the name of. The higher waist will disguise any 'oddities' and the longer length works well with his fairly tall roommate. And judging from how Duo's looking at it, Heero can tell he likes it too.

"Will this one work?"

Duo nods. "Yeah."

Heero hands it over and Duo unzips it.

"No peeking."

Heero rolls his eyes. Relena covers her eyes as a formality.

Duo unzips the long as hell zipper and steps into the dress before slowly pulling it up and over his hips.

"I may need some help." He pulls the thin straps halfway up his arms.

"What's the problem?"

"Well there's a zipper I ain't able to reach, my tits are in the way, and I think my hips are too big."

Heero goes over and tugs up on the fabric, freeing the part of the zipper that got caught in Duo's underwear.

"Tuck them into the top part of the dress."

Duo flushes.

"They're your own breasts, Duo, it's okay to touch them."

 _I'd rather_ _ **you**_ _do it for me._

"Well you could be a gentleman and help a lady out with her voluptuous fuckin' tits here."

Heero hears Relena try and stifle a laugh.

"I suppose it's my duty as your date for this event to make sure you look good."

"Damn fuckin' skippy it is."

Heero presses down on Duo's fake chest and manages to get one in the confines of the dress. He pushes a little harder on the other once he discovers resistance and watches in horror as it pops out of the top and rolls down the length of the dress to the floor, where it rolls away a couple of feet before stopping. Heero and Duo look at each other.

The room is filled with an awkward silence. The worst type of awkward silence, in fact. Duo isn't sure how he can look Heero in the eyes right now, but he somehow can.

"That did not just happen," Duo says. "You did not–that did not–oh my fuckin'…"

"…sorry. I didn't mean to kill your womanly chest."

Duo laughs first. When Heero realizes he's still gripping the front of Duo's dress, he lets go and steps back.

"You look…a little…" He looks away, half biting his lip. "L-Lopsided." His voice cracks on that word and he can't keep the laughter in anymore.

Relena picks up the fallen breast and, one hand over her mouth to keep her giggling at a minimum, hands it to Duo. "Here's your breast, Duo."

Duo sinks to the floor in a laughing fit, laughing harder when the other one falls out of the top of the dress.

"Why…Why the hell are yours stayin' put?!"

Heero looks down at his own fake breasts. "I…I don't know. Magic, I guess."

Duo knocks them off and sends them halfway across the room.

"If mine fall off, so do yours."


End file.
